


A Sucker Bet

by windowa



Category: Abyss
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2009-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-04 19:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windowa/pseuds/windowa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lindsay and Bud meet</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sucker Bet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greenbirds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenbirds/gifts).



January 1986

Virgil “Bud” Brigman was heading back to his oil rig after the holidays.  New Orleans was the largest city close to his rig so he had spent the holidays there.  The holidays had been lonely with no family but New Orleans was bright and gaudy enough to almost distract him, but not quite.  Unlike most of his co-workers, he was looking forward to returning to work.  His boss had called a day or two back and told him that he was going to have an engineer from the company on this tour, the company wanted to assess the feasibility of retrofitting some parts of the rig leading up to building a new kind of rig.  Bud was hoping the engineer wasn’t an uptight geek who was afraid to get dirty. For some reason, he was usually given the task of shepherding them around the crowded and dangerous rig.

 

Bud grabbed his duffel bag and got out of the taxi as it pulled up to the company heliport.  He paid his driver and went to join the crew milling on the pad waiting for the helicopter to pick them up.  As he drew close to the group of people he noticed a cold looking but beautiful brunette dressed in a business suit to the side of the pad.  The thing he noticed most was she was leaning against a pylon at the edge and had a streak of dirt on her cheek.  “If she’s the engineer, at least she’s willing to get dirty or at least doesn’t notice right away if she is,” Bud muttered under his breath.

 

A shout from across the helipad caught Bud’s attention.  “Catfish, I didn’t know you were switching rigs.  When did that happen?” Bud replied, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

 

“The retro-fit man, they brought all the deep-core guys in on this one.  Did you check out the lady engineer?  Bet we can make her blush real pretty.”

 

“I don’t think anyone is going to take that bet, Cat.”

 

“It is a sucker bet, but not the way you boys are thinking.”  A female voice from behind Bud spoke up.  Bud thought her voice suited her based on what he had seen so far, aloof but not afraid to get dirty.  And she was not stepping back from an awkward situation which meant his time as a tour guide was looking slightly less arduous.

 

Bud turned to face her as Cat’s blush died away, and held out his hand.  “Bud Brigman, nice to meet you.  And this is Catfish.”

 

 “Lindsay.  Can’t say it’s been a pleasure so far Bud.  Although I am looking forward to whether you and your friend are going to dig yourselves out of the hole or deeper in.  Since you’re oil workers, I’m betting on deeper, especially since neither of you seem that bright.”  Her handshake was as firm as her delivery, it was quietly confident and competent in a way that caught Bud’s attention.

 

Bud slowly let her hand go, already a little intrigued.  Lindsay wasn’t like any other woman he had ever met.  He had seen prettier sure and certainly warmer, but none that seemed to shine with intelligence and as his mama used to say “sass”.  She was definitely different and fierce enough that even just based on short acquaintance he wanted to know more about her.

 

He turned to Cat, but Cat had slunk away already to some of their other friends waiting.  He turned back to Lindsay, saying “Ma’am, I’m hoping to prove you wrong and not just for my sake.  You are about to be stuck with me for the next couple of weeks since I will be your guide on the rig.”

 

“I don’t believe that’s right.  My paperwork says that a ‘Virgil’ will be escorting me.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.  That would be me, Virgil Brigman, but I mostly go by ‘Bud’.”

 

“I would go by ‘Bud’ as well.  How did you get ‘Bud’ from Virgil?”

 

“Well, it goes back to when I first started working on the rigs.  My crew lead could never remember my name for some reason, but he always called me Bud.  ‘Hey Bud, can you hand me that wrench?’ or ‘Bud, you ready for lunch?’ you know.  Just caught on with the rest of the guys in crew and I’ve been Bud ever since.  Grown to like it over the years.  You got a nickname, ace?”

 

“Just Lindsay.  So do you know how late the helicopter is going to be?  I really wanted to get to the rig and get started today.  I want to see the main drill today and the subsidiary units as well.  Tomorrow we can start on…”

 

“Just hold it right there hot shot.  We won’t get to the rig until about 4.  Tonight we all just get together in the crew area, play some poker, and then hit our beds early.  Tomorrow morning we rise with the tide so we’ll start then.”

 

“That’s not acceptable.  I have a long list that I want to check on so I can start recommending the most efficient retro-fits to the company.  We really need to start today when we get to the rig.  Any delay in my finishing my job here, will result in catastrophic delays in the new rig.  I need to be supervising the construction of the deep core rig.”

 

“Lady, it’s an hour flight in a helicopter to a remote rig.  No one is going to feel like getting to work right away, that’s why they fly us in late afternoon like this.  We have an hour or so to get updated from the crew currently on the rig who we are rotating with.  Then they catch the outgoing bird and we hit the galley for some food and some cards.  That’s it.  If you want to complain to the company, that’s your right, but that is what’s going to happen, like it or not.”  Bud didn’t know how his less than promising start with Lindsay had continued to fall so fast, but he had a suspicion it had to do with her somewhat abrasive personality.  She was definitely strong-willed, enough to stand up to him, and Bud liked that.  He had the feeling though that it wasn’t mutual.

 

“Bud!  Bird’s landing in 5!”  Cat called across to Bud.  Bud realized he had been hearing the chopper getting louder but had ignored it in favor of his conversation with Lindsay.

 

“Do you have a bag I can help you with?”  It made Bud feel like an awkward kid again, asking the girl he liked if he could carry her books, but the offer suited both his innate politeness and his somewhat romantic nature.

 

“I am perfectly capable of carrying my own bag, thank you.”  Well, the stick up her back just went a little straighter, Bud thought to himself.  He just couldn’t say the right thing no matter what.  There was a light in Lindsay’s eyes as she looked at him and Bud feared the worst.

 

Lindsay smiled though, and said, “Since we can’t look around today, you can sit near me on the helicopter and tell me everything about the rig.”

 

Bud smiled back.  He knew you couldn’t hear anything on a helicopter other than the helicopter itself, and you certainly couldn’t carry on a conversation.  “I’d be happy to, ace.”

 

It was a start.


End file.
